Doll carriage

ABSTRACT

A toy baby carriage which is alternatively free wheeling or of the spring loading roll back type includes a body member frame supported on front and rear pairs of wheels. The rear wheels are secured to a shaft projecting through a transverse tubular member affixed to the body frame and housing a helical windup spring which encircles the shaft and has one end secured to the shaft and the other provided with a stop arm. A foot actuated lever is positioned in the tubular member and is provided with an abutment which is selectively moved through an opening in the tubular member into the path of the spring stop arm to restrict the rotation of the corresponding spring end and permit the loading of the spring. In the alternative the tubular member is rotatably supported by the carriage frame, the opposite end of the windup spring being attached to the tubular member and foot actuated means are provided for releasably locking the tubular member against rotation.

United States Patent 1 Rubin 1 Sept. 4, 1973 DOLL CARRIAGE [75]Inventor: Herbert Rubin, New York, N.Y.

[73] Assignee: New York Toy Corporation, New

York, N.Y.

22 Filed: Jan. 26, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 109,869

Primary Examiner-Kenneth 1-1. Betts Attorney-Stanley Wolder [57]ABSTRACT A toy baby carriage which is alternatively free wheeling or ofthe spring loading roll back type includes a body member frame supportedon front and rear pairs of wheels. The rear wheels are secured to ashaft projecting through a transverse tubular member affixed to the bodyframe and housing a helical windup spring which encircles the shaft andhas one end secured to the shaft and the other provided with a stop arm.A foot actuated lever is positioned in the tubular member and isprovided with an abutment which is selectively moved through an openingin the tubular member into the path of the spring stop arm to restrictthe rotation of the corresponding spring end and permit the loading ofthe spring. ln the alternative the tubular member is rotatably supportedby the carriage frame, the opposite end of the windup spring beingattached to the tubular member and foot actuated means are provided forreleasably locking the tubular member against rotation.

1 Claim, 8 Drawing Figures DOLL CARRIAGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates generally to improvements in toy vehicles andit relates particularly to an improved toy vehicle such as a toy babycarriage and the like, provided with a roll back mechanism.

Toy vehicles are of generally two types those which are free wheelingand those which are provided with motor driven wheels. Among the lattertype of toy vehicles are those of the roll back type wherein a drivespring is wound or loaded with the advance of the vehicle and upon therelease of the vehicle the loaded spring unwinds and returns the vehicleto its initial position. The roll back type of vehicle possessesnumerous drawbacks and limitations by reason of its limited applicationand use. The vehicle can only be advanced a limited distance whereuponthe fully loaded spring prevents any further advance of the vehicle andin order to effect any further advance the spring must be unloaded. Insuch cases however, the vehicle may be again advanced only to the extentpermitted by the winding of the springand the above procedure must beagain repeated. There are many forms of vehicles, for example toy babycarriages in which this practice is undesirable and impractical.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is a principal object of the presentinvention to provide an improved toy vehicle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved toyvehicle of the roll back type.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedtoy vehicle which is selectively of free wheeling or roll backoperation.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved toyvehicle of the above nature characterized by its ruggedness,reliability, simplicity, ease of operation, high versatility and lowcost.

The above and other objects of the present invention will becomeapparent from a reading of the following description taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings which illustrate preferredembodiments thereof.

In a sense the present invention contemplates the provision of a toyvehicle comprising a body member, wheels mounted on and depending fromthe body member and including at least one traction wheel, a windupspring, means connecting one end of the spring to the traction wheel,and means for selectively alternating releasing and-locking the otherend of the spring against rotation whereby to respectively permit thefree rotation of the traction wheel and the winding of the spring withthe rotation of the traction wheel.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention the vehicleis in the form of a toy baby carriage which includes a transversestationary tubular member and a shaft extending through and projectingbeyond the ends of the tubular member, a pair of traction wheels beingaffixed to opposite ends of the shaft. A helical windup spring encirclesthe shaft and is housed in the tubular member, one end of the springbeing secured to the shaft and the other end terminating in a stopdefining longitudinally extending leg. A lever is pivotly supportedintermediate its ends atop the tubular member and is provided with adepending finger movable through an opening in the tubular member intoand out of the circular path of the spring stop leg.

In a modified form of the improved toy vehicle an axle having tractionwheels affixed thereto is rotatably supported and a tubular memberextends along the length of the axle. A windup helical spring housed inthe tubular member encircles the axle and has its opposite ends affixedto the axle and tubular member respectively. A lever rockable about afixed pivot is provided with a finger movable into and out of engagementwith an opening formed in the wall of the tubular member.

The improved toy vehicle is simple, rugged, reliable, simple to operateand of high versatility.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of apreferred embodiment of the present invention shown by full line in aroll back position and by broken line in an advanced position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary partially sectional view of the drivemechanism thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3 3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4 4 in FIG.3 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 2 of another embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line 6 6 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7 7 in FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8 8 in FIG. 6.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings,particularly FIGS. 1 to 4 thereof which illustrate a preferredembodiment of the present invention as applied to a toy baby carriage ofthe collapsible type, it being understood that it may be applied toother forms of baby carriages and vehicles, the reference numeral 10generally designates the improved vehicle. The vehicle 10 comprises abody member which includes a support frame structure 11 and a carriersection 12 suitably mounted thereon. The frame structure 11 and carriersection 12 are of conventional construction, the latter comprising alongitudinally extending open topped-basket 13 including a rectangular,rigid top reinforcing frame and being formed of a flexible material soas to be collapsible, and a front collapsible canopy 14.

The frame structure 11 comprises a forwardly downwardly inclinedinverted U-shape member 16 which includes a top handle definingtransverse cross bar 17, located above and rearwardly of basket Bandparallel side arms 18 which extend to points below the forward edge ofbasket 13. Frame structure 11 also includes a pair of transverselyspaced parallel rearwardly downwardly inclined side arms 19 which extendfrom the upper forward edge of basket 13 to points below the rear edgeof basket 13 at the level of the bottoms of side arms 18 and are pinconnected to the reinforcing frame of basket 13 and to side arms 18.Extending between and projecting beyond the lower ends of side arms 18and suitably affixed thereto is a transverse axle 20 which hasjournalled to its opposite ends a pair of front wheels 21.

A horizontal transverse tubular member 22 extends between theconfronting faces of the lower ends of side arms 19 and is suitablyaffixed thereto, such as by welding. Extending coaxially through tubularmember 22 and journalled in openings in and projecting beyond side arms19 is a rotatable shaft 23 having threaded end sections 24. The hubs 26of a pair of opposite traction wheels 27 engage shaft threaded sections24 and are each locked thereto by a pair of opposing inside and outsidenuts 28 engaging shaft thread sections 24 and tightened to clamp andembrace the hubs 26, a washer 29 being disposed between each inside nut28 and the confronting face of a corresponding side arm 19. Tractionwheels 27 are of conventional construction including channel rims 30connected to hub 26 by radial spokes and engaging a solid rubber tire32. Thus, wheels 27 rotate with shaft 23.

A helical windup spring 33 is housed in and coaxial with tubular member22 and encircles shaft 23, and is of a diameter between that of tubularmember 22 and shaft 23. One end of windup spring 33 terminates in an eye34 which is affixed to shaft 23 by a rivet 36 engaging a transverse borein shaft 23. The opposite end of windup spring 33 is provided with anintegrally formed, longitudinally extending stop defining arm 37 whichterminates in a transverse leg 38. Formed in the top face of tubularmember 22 in vertical registry with the path of stop arm 37 is anopening 39.

A pair of longitudinally spaced vertical parallel bracket arms 40 aremounted atop tubular member 22 and are transversely spaced from opening39. A transversely extneding foot lever 41 is rockably supportedintermediate its ends by a pivot pin 42 extending between bracket arms40, the foot lever 41 being tightly embraced by bracket arms 40 toretain it in its set position while permitting the rocking thereof byfoot pressure. Mounted atop opposite ends of lever 41 are enlargedsuitably marked foot pieces 43 and 44. Integrally formed with one end oflever 41 in registry with tube opening 39 is a depending abutmentdefining finger 46 which is movable with the rocking of lever 41 betweenan advanced position in the path of spring stop arm 37 and a retractedposition above said path and above opening 39.

Considering now the operation of the toy baby carriage 10, if it isdesired to employ it in the conventional free wheeling manner theoperator merely steps on foot piece 44 to depress it and swing lever 41clockwise, as viewed in FIG. 3, and raise abutment finger 46 from thepath of spring stop arm 46. Accordingly, as the carriage is pushed orpulled, the traction wheels 22 rotate shaft 23 which in turn rotatesspring 33, the latter being free to rotate without any retarding thereofby the loading of spring 33.

If the toy carriage 10 is to be employed in a roll back manner, theoperator steps on foot piece 43 to rock lever 41 counterclockwise anddepress abutment finger 46 through opening 39 into the path of and inengagement with stop arm 37. When carriage 10 is then pushed orpropelled forwardly to rotate traction wheels 27, shaft 23 is rotatedand spring 33 is wound by reason of the one end thereof being lockedagainst rotation by the engagement between abutment finger 46 and springstop arm 37. Upon release of the carriage 10 the wound spring 33 ispermitted to unwind and rotates shaft 23 and wheels 32 in a reversedirection to drive the carriage 10 rearwardly. It should be noted thatby reversing the windup direction of spring 33 from that shown thespring may be wound by pulling the carriage and propelled forwardly uponrelease.

In FIGS. 5 to 8 of the drawings there is illustrated another embodimentof the present invention which differs from that first describedprimarily in the construc tion of the wheel drive mechanism.Specifically, the improved vehicle comprises a body member frameincluding a pair of frame rear side arms 139 corresponding to side arms19 of the vehicle 10. A transverse shaft is journalled in and extendsbetween and projects beyond the lower ends of side arms 139 andterminates in threaded end sections 141. The hub 142 of a tractionwheel, like wheel 27, engages each threaded end section 141 and islocked thereto by a pair of opposing nuts 143 engaging threaded section141 and embracingly clamping hub 142. Innermost nuts 143 are separatedfrom the outer faces of side arms 139 by washers 144 carried by shaft140.

A tubular member 146, coaxial with and enclosing shaft 140, extendsbetween the confronting faces of side arms 139 and is rotatablysupported advantageously by a pair of annuli (not shown) secured to theopposite ends of tubular member 146 and having central aperturesrotatably engaging shaft 140. Moreover, tubular member 146 need notextend for the full distance between side arms 39 but may extend fromone of the side arms 139 to a point short of the other and stop meansmay be provided on shaft 140 to prevent any axial movement of tubularmember 146.

A helical windup spring 47 of a diameter between that of shaft 140 andthe inside face of tubular member 146 encircles shaft 140 and is housedin tubular member 146. The ends of spring 47 terminate in eyes or loops48 and 49 respectively. The loop 48 is fixed to shaft 140 by a rivet 45engaging eye 48 and a transverse bore in shaft 140, rivet 45 havingenlarged heads at opposite ends. The opposite end of spring 47 isaffixed to tubular member 146 by a cotter pin 50 which engages eye 49and a pair of transversely aligned openings 52 in tubular member 146transversely off-set from shaft 140, the ends 53 of the cotter pin legsbeing upset against the outer face of tubular member 146.

In order to releasably lock tubular member 146 against rotation there isprovided a foot actuated locking lever 54 which is rockably supportedabove tubular member 146 by a pivot 56 mounted on and projectingtransversely horizontally inwardly from side arm 139. The lever 54 isseparated from side arm 39 by a spacer sleeve 57 engaging pivot pin 56and terminates at its upper rear in a transversely extending foot piece58. Integrally formed with the end of lever 54 remote from foot piece 58is a downwardly directed locking finger 59 which is outwardly inclinedto the longitudinal axis of lever 54. An opening 60 is formed in tubularmember 146 in the plane of finger 59, and finger 59 is selectivelymovable to an advanced position in engagement with opening 60, byrocking lever 54 clockwise as viewed in FIG. 7 to thereby lock tubularmember 146 against rotation, and to retracted position by rocking lever54 counter clockwise whereby to retract finger 59 from opening 60 andrelease tubular member 146 for free rotation.

The vehicle last described is employed in the manner of vehicle 10 asearlier described. To activate the come back mechanism, lever 54 isadvanced to bring finger 59 into engagement with opening 60 and therebylock tubular member 146 and one end of windup spring 47 againstrotation. Thus when the vehicle is advanced the traction wheels rotateshaft 140 and wind spring 47 which motivates the return of the vehiclewhen the vehicle is released. To use the vehicle in its normal freewheeling manner finger 59 is retracted from opening 60 to effect therelease of tubular member 146 to free rotation so that the rotation ofthe traction wheels are not retarded by the winding of spring 47 sincean end of the spring is free to rotate.

While there have been described and illustrated preferred embodiments ofthe present invention it is ap parent that numerous alterations,omissions and additions may be made without departing from the spiritthereof.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy vehicle comprising a body member, a shaft rotatably mounted onsaid body member, a pair of traction wheels mounted on opposite ends ofsaid shaft and rotatable therewith, a tubular member having an apertureformed in the peripheral wall thereof and extending along and encirclingat least part of said shaft, a helical windup spring encircling saidshaft and housed in said tubular member and having opposite ends affixedto said shaft and said tubular member respectively, and a lever mountedfor rocking about a relatively fixed pivot and terminating in a fingermovable with the rocking of said lever in and but of engagement withsaid aperture, respectively permitting the free rotation of said shaftand traction wheels and the winding of said spring with the rotation ofsaid wheels and shaft.

1. A toy vehicle comprising a body member, a shaft rotatably mounted onsaid body member, a pair of traction wheels mounted on opposite ends ofsaid shaft and rotatable therewith, a tubular member having an apertureformed in the peripheral wall thereof and extending along and encirclingat least part of said shaft, a helical windup spring encircling saidshaft and housed in said tubular member and having opposite ends Affixedto said shaft and said tubular member respectively, and a lever mountedfor rocking about a relatively fixed pivot and terminating in a fingermovable with the rocking of said lever in and but of engagement withsaid aperture, respectively permitting the free rotation of said shaftand traction wheels and the winding of said spring with the rotation ofsaid wheels and shaft.